Wednesday, April 8, 2009

I'm BUSY!

I’m busy! Sometimes too busy. There are things that happen to us in life from time to time that cause us to slow down and wonder what in the heck are we doing with time and our life? I had one of those moments this week.

My aunt Faye has been battling cancer for several years. She lives in Kentucky where due to distance alone I don’t get to see her a lot. But times I get to see her I have never really taken full advantage of talking to her. You know that talking where you find out about each other, share stories or laugh at each other’s jokes and experiences. I have spent the better part of 31 years in causal conversation of “Hello, I’m fine. How are you? Good to see you” type of dialogue.

This all changed Sunday. She is on her deathbed, the cancer has finally won the battle. I stand over her at bedside. She at this point has become totally comatose and unable to respond. For the first time in my life perhaps I had an urge to talk with Faye. I didn’t know what to say or how to say. The times of me being too busy, too involved in cousins, playing outdoors, talking sports with uncles, blah, blah, blah, began to run through my head. Finally I had the time, more like took the time, to talk with Faye and there was no conversation that could be had.

Don’t get bogged down in the sadness of the story. The sadness comes in when we don’t take the time to cherish moments with family and friends. Too many times we allow our lives to get so crammed and over-packed with OUR stuff we forget to occasionally stop and just let life happen at a natural pace.

As I write these words Faye has gone to be with her true love. I can’t wait to sit down and have that long talk we never got to have here, so for now I will end with the only words I could mutter on Sunday - “I love you and will see you soon.”



At the end of the day God is still God, and He is good!

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Girls, Girls, Girls

They Like Jesus but Not the Church Study 4: "Is the church Male-Dominated, Does it Oppress Women"

Here are the scripture notes and two primary views for your study: Please comment back with your conclusion(s) (partial or complete).

Two Primary Views: (remember that there are various degrees to both views)
Complementarian: The viewpoint that women can serve in many ways in the church, but that leadership roles, such as elder, minister or primary teacher, are restricted to men.

Egalitarian: The viewpoint that women can serve in any leadership role of the church including minister, primary teacher or elder.

Scriptures:
1 Timothy 2:11
I Corinthians 14:34

In conjunction to the above two, what do you do with:
Miriam (Exodus 15:20; Micah 6:4)
Deborah (Judges 4:4-7)
Philip's four daughters (Acts 21:8-9)
Females praying and prophesying (1 Corinthians 11:5)

Mary (mother of Jesus) and other women (Acts 1:14)
Phoebe, the servant/deaconess (Romans 16:1)
Priscilla (Acts 18:24-26)
Mary, mother of John (Acts 12:12)
Lydia (Acts 16:14-15)
Labors equally together in the work (Romans 16:12; Philippians 4:2-3)
Junia (Romans 16:8)
Acts 2:17
Galatians 3:26-4:7

Also do some study of the New Testament word "prophesy"

A few places to look on the web for help:
www.biblegateway.com
www.bible.org
www.biblestudytools.net
http://www.ccel.org/wwsb/

Remember the Goal: Can you intelligently, articulately, loving express or explain your view to someone who may not be where you are at the present time?


At the end of the day God is still God, and He is good!